I'm thinking about space a bit, the here and hereafter. The ways we fear. The ways we care. It's been a rough week in American politics. It fills me full of wishes. Wishes that we could just take care of each other without making each other prove that we deserve care. Worthiness is a given. Entitlement to care and love is a birthright. This is more of a spiritual rambling than a political one - I don't aim to offend anyone who may think differently than me but I wouldn't be in integrity if I didn't say something about this lunacy we have devolved into. But wishes only get me so far. It's in action, consistent actions, that change occurs. Activism is active. Advocating takes voice.

I caught some new images of Saturn this week and it is always comforting to reconnect with the immensity of the universe. I searched a little further and found this super cool VIDEO about Cassini's journey and am humbled even more so.

So, let me explain what I wrote above. "Understanding just how insignificant I am, gives me confidence that I can do anything". Once upon a time, i was super self-conscious. I thought that I was being watched and that people really cared what I did, said and thought. So I was always walking on eggshells and editing myself. Then someone who I really trusted pulled me aside and said: "don't worry what others think of you, they don't think of you." That was a huge epiphany. People aren't surveilling me? People don't really care what I do? She said: "No, people are too busy caring about themselves mostly so let it go." Huh. Freeing, liberating, magical! All along I had been restrained by my ego sprinkled with a little paranoia. The parts of me that I thought were deserving of tremendous criticism, turns out, were absolutely invisible, flying under the radar. Huh. Using this same logic but on a grander scale, picture yourself from outer space. You are looking down at earth from a spaceship and what do you see. NOTHING. YUP NOTHING. The bigger the picture, the less I see of myself. What I do today does not matter much in the big scheme of things so why don't I go for it. Whatever it is I want to do for good in this world. I should say that the insignificance is to be viewed in a positive perspective, not in an "I don't matter" defeatest light. I look at it this way, "If no one is preoccupied with my every move, and I am teeny tiny in the big picture and I'm going to be dead in less than 100 years and I and all my actions will likely be forgotten in less than 200 years, then why should I ever hold back on telling someone I love them or speaking up loudly against injustice or telling my asshole boss just where to shove it. The bigger the picture, the less I have to lose, the freer I feel to be simply my authentic self. If I am being my self wholeheartedly, I will take risks, step up to challenges and likely make some headway in the areas most important to me in life. Look at it this way; What are two of the most important inventions / discoveries of all time? I would argue 1. the wheel and 2. Fire. Big advancements for us humans right? We don't know the names of the people who stumbled upon these amazing things so I doubt anyone will remember me for doing anything, great or stupid, in the long run. Freeing to consider that isn't it?